Was it too late to say 'I love you?
by luvrukia
Summary: A normal argument led to somebody's death. What happened? Was has it to do with Kaien? IchiXRuki Implied RukiXKai Angst/Romance/Tragedy. Beware of Character Death. R&R!


This is my fifth time starting a IchiRuki story. Well, I hope all goes well, though. I'm thinking of whether to continue so just give me opinions, okay? :) Well, if you want me to continue, second chapter may take a while :) Anyway, enjoy!!!

**Disclimer: If I own Bleach or its characters, Ichigo and Rukia would be married with babues already. So, yes, I don't own Bleach!!! :P **

**Rukia: What did you say?**

**Me: Uh, disclaimer? **

**Rukia: No!!!!!!!!! That's not the way!!!!!!! You should say... Kuchiki Rukia owns Kurosaki Ichigo!!! **

**Me: Um... That wouldn't... **

**Rukia: Say it!!!!!**

**Me: Um... **

_***Gets Bonked***_

**Me: OKAY, FINE, FINE!!!!!!!! KUCHIKI RUKIA OWN KUROSAKI ICHIGO!!!!!!! **

**Ichigo: OOI!!!!!!! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT, YOU MIDGET????????**

**Rukia: SHUT UP, YOU ORANGE-HAIRED STRAWBERRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

_***Mutters***_ _Somebody tell me why am I a fan of Kuchiki Rukia again... _

**Rukia: BECAUSE I'M COOL AND LOVES MY ADORABLE CHAPPY AND IS GOOD AT DRAWING!!!!!!!!!!! **

**Ichigo: Oh? Did I hear somebody saying their drawings are talented, as alike as a three-year old and Chappy is a freaking ugly rabbit and Kuchiki Rukia is uncool?**

**Rukia: WHY, YOU HOT-HEADED... **

**Ichigo: Midget!!! **

_***Sweatsdrops***_ **Me: Now, let's continue on with the story, shall we? _*Smiles nervously*_**

_***Ichigo and Rukia pouts and looks away while I wipe my sweat in huge relief***_ **Okay, let's go on with the story!!!**

A/N: Before I begin, let's have a legend

There are two part to this story, one is the past where the other is the present.

Past: Italic - What the characters are doing at that moment

Bold and Italic - The character's conversation.

Normal - Thoughts of that time

Present: Normal - What the characters are doing at that moment

Bold - The Character's conversation

Bold + Italic - Memories of past conversation

**_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________**

"_**Bastard!"**_

"_**OOI! WHAT THE HELL, MIDGET!!!"**_

"_**You threw my Shoujo manga away!" **_

_Ichigo practically rolled his eyes. Just for a Shoujo manga, she was screaming at him. Moreover… _

"_**Rukia, for God's sake, the stupid manga is just on the floor. Just pick it up."**_

"_**You pick it up since you threw it. And, IT IS NOT A STUPID MANGA!!!"**_

"_**Meh, you are just too lazy, and IT IS A STUPID MANGA!!!"**_

"_**Ichigo, did you even see the contents in the manga? Oh, it had such pure…"**_

"_**I don't even wanna hear the rest."**_

"_**Love!!"**_

_Knowing the answer would be love, Ichigo rolled his eyes again. What's with love anyway? He was, in fact, a little much too young to talk about love, although his crazy father would always talk about protection. _

"_**Ichigo!!!!" **_

"_**What???"**_

"_**Pick up the manga!!!"**_

"_**As I said, you are just too lazy."**_

_Ichigo smirked and Rukia glared. Seeing Rukia's expression turning to glaring eyes to a smirking expression, Ichigo suddenly feared for his own life. That's when he saw Rukia going downstairs and he heard wailing noises. For the third time, Ichigo rolled his eyes and began on his homework, mentally preparing himself if his Dad decides to pay him a visit. _

_Soon after… _

_Ichigo heard footsteps getting louder and nevertheless, wailing too. With a sigh, he put his hands in front of his face and towards the direction of the door, his palm opened. And, expectedly, his father came barging in and… _

"_THUMP!!!"_

_Isshin had his whole face on Ichigo's palm and his face, slowly and loudly, banged to the floor._

"_**When can you stop bothering me? I'M DOING MY HOMEWORK, OLD MAN!!!"**_

_Isshin wiped off blood that were dripping from his mouth and gave Ichigo thumbs up. _

"_**Good job, son!!! My effort of these years training you has paid off after all!!!"**_

_Ichigo rolled his eyes and muttered. _

"_**Who wouldn't be afraid when their crazy dad comes up to give them a swift kick in the guts every morning?"**_

"_**That would only mean I trained you well, my son!!!"**_

"_**Train my foot!!!"**_

_Seeing this incident, Rukia couldn't help but giggle but couldn't forget her acting. She immediately rushed to Isshin. _

"_**Oh gosh! Kurosaki-san, are you all right?"**_

_Ichigo raised an eyebrow at Rukia. Tch, the acting never gets old. With a big and heavy sigh, Ichigo picked up the manga and threw it to Rukia. _

"_**Midget, if we get to school late because of your short legs, I'm holding you accountable."**_

_While Rukia made a mental note to kill Ichigo for calling her Midget in front of her father afterwards, Ichigo had already left the house and headed on for school. Swearing under her breath, Rukia caught up to him and kicked him in the… AHEM… Spot. _

"_**GAH, BITCH! WHAT WAS THAT FOR??? I STILL NEED THAT, MIND YOU!!!"**_

"_**FOR CALLING ME MIDGET IN FRONT OF YOUR DAD OF ALL PEOPLE!!! WHAT DID YOU CALL ME??? AND, PSH, AS IF ANYBODY WOULD WANT TO MARRY YOU!!!" **_

"_**ARE YOU HARD OF HEARING OR, YOU JUST DON'T WANNA ADMIT YOU ARE A MIDGET!!!"**_

_This earned Ichigo another swift kick to the guts. _

"_**Bitch."**_

_Instead of fighting back, Ichigo watch Rukia attracted to the nearby date posted on the poster. _

"_**Ichigo, what date is it today?"**_

"_**Are you blind? It's stated there, June 14"**_

_Silenced ensued soon after. _

"_**Rukia?"**_

"_**Ichigo, I need to go somewhere."  
**_

_Looking at Rukia, he continued to walk to school. _

"_**Meh, who cares whether you will be out or not? As if I would!!!"**_

_Rukia, seeing Ichigo leaving, muttered to herself._

"_**Ignorant bastard."**_

_While Rukia walked the other way, Ichigo looked towards her and cursed himself for letting Rukia go so easily._

It's not like something bad will happen, right?

_With this thought, he continued his walk to school, dismissing the bad feeling he had until now._

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sitting on his own bed and looking at the certain petite raven-haired Shinigami laying beside him, Ichigo couldn't help but felt hot tears rolling down his cheeks. He hasn't cried since his mother left him. So, what actually made him cry now? The loss of his loved ones? Probably. He rose up his hands to touch Rukia's forehead and planted a kiss. He wanted to feel them one last time. Just one last time. He proceeded slowly, with his lips kissing her forehead, nose and then lips. Although knowing fully well Rukia couldn't and wouldn't respond to the kiss, Ichigo didn't care and kissed her fully on the lips. More tears made its way down. His hands which were entwined with Rukia's held tightly, almost as if letting go means losing the person he held forever.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_Rukia made her way to Karakura Cemetery, searching for a certain grave._

_Kurosaki Masaki_

_Loving Wife of Kurosaki Isshin_

_Loving Mother of Kurosaki Ichigo, Kurosaki Yuzu and Kurosaki Karin_

_Rukia smiled and looked beside Masaki's grave to find the grave she was searching for. _

_Shiba Kaien_

_Loving Brother of Shiba Ganju and Shiba Kukkaku_

_Loving Husband of Miyako_

_Loving Mentor of Kuchiki Rukia_

_How many years had flown since Captain Ukitake's request of Kaien to be buried beside Masaki? She had lost count. Why was it that she could never forget Kaien and move on? Because she had killed him herself with her own sword? Probably. Rukia kneeled down in front of Kaien's grave and presented a bouquet of roses. _

"_**It's been a while, Kaien-dono. How are you? Are you and Miyako-dono doing fine? Soul Society had been great and Captain Ukitake's health is the same as ever. We are all fine."**_

_Drops begin dripping down and Rukia realized it was raining. Making no movement to stand up, she remained kneeling down in front of Kaien's grave and let the rain splash on her kimono. _

"_**Kaien-dono, you know something? I missed your training, I missed your comforting hands, I missed… You." **_

_Tears flowed freely. With tears mixed with raindrops, she still made no movement to stand up. Finally, after five minutes, she stood up and walked over to Masaki, Ichigo's mother, grave. _

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"**Kurosaki-kun…"**

"**Inoue, could you try your powers one last time?"**

Hearing Ichigo's words and the tone that he used it, Inoue's heart was torn and shattered. She knew that Ichigo and Rukia loved each other, and she refused to believe it. But, now…

"**Kurosaki, Inoue-san had tried multiple times. None of the multiple times worked. None. So, what makes you so sure that it will work this time?"**

"**Inoue, please…"**

Kurosaki Ichigo NEVER pleaded. NEVER. Inoue looked away.

"**I'm sorry, Kurosaki-kun. I tried my best and there's no way I can revive her now."**

"**Kurosaki Ichigo, enough is enough."**

Ichigo clenched his fists at the voice of that person, Kuchiki Byakuya. The only person who refused to help Rukia and even stopped Renji from helping Rukia.

"**You have no rights to talk to me."**

"**Ichigo…"  
**

Ignoring Renji, Ichigo stormed in front of Byakuya.

"**You were her brother!!!! Why didn't you help her??? You could have defeated that fellow easily with Senbonzakura!!! Why didn't you???" **

"**Ichigo!!! Stop being so unreasonable!!! I believe Captain Kuchiki had a reason for what he was doing back there!!! Get a hold of yourself!!!" **

"**Lieutenant Renji is right, Ichigo-kun."**

Alarmed that someone else besides them heard the conversation, they turned their heads to the speaker.

"**Ukitake-san…" **

**____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________**

_Rukia kneeled before Masaki's grave and took out a bouquet of chrysanthemum flowers. Placing it neatly in front of Masaki's grave, she spoke. _

"_**I was told by Ichigo chrysanthemum flowers are your favorite. So, I brought them and I hope they are to your liking." **_

_A black figure that was hiding in the shadows shielding himself from the rain with an umbrella took out a voice recorder and pressed on the button named 'Record'. _

"_**I ought to do an introduction first. I'm Kuchiki Rukia, Kurosaki Ichigo's…"**_

_Rukia hesitated, thinking of the words she could say about what she and Ichigo's relationship is. Lovers? She mentally laughed. _

"_**... Classmate and I'm currently living in his closet right now. You know, he annoys the crap out of me and I always have to beat the crap out of him to even get him to shut up."**_

_She smiled a little and continued._

"_**You know, Ichigo always talks about you. You were a good mother in their eyes and always will be a good mother and they are very proud of you. Since I'm here today, I might as well say my heartfelt words how I feel about him. In fact, I don't know what I should do. I feel that…"**_

_Tears started flowing from Rukia's eyes. _

"_**I love him. I really do. I love him for the way he is, for his personality, for his protection of friends. And, I think I fell in love with him… Deeply. Whenever I see him, a blush would creep up my cheek. I don't know what to do. I love him yet I can't tell him these simple 3 words because… WE are from totally two different worlds."**_

_After saying this, Rukia felt relieved that she had said this to Masaki. But, she wondered:_

"_**Will I have the courage to tell him the same set of words I had said to his mother today?"**_

_Wiping away her own tears, she continued. _

"_**Karin and Yuzu are doing really fine. I can tell that Karin's doing her utmost best to be a good sister in front of everybody and Yuzu's taking over all of the chores in the house. Of course, I help her sometimes too."**_

_The next 10 minutes or so, Rukia spent her time telling Masaki about what's the family up to. _

"_**In fact, I know I shouldn't be doing this. I know it's not my position to tell you how the family's up to. The one that should have been here should be Kurosaki-san, Yuzu, Karin or Ichigo."**_

_Tears started dropping down more. _

"_**You know, Ichigo misses you up to now. Whenever there was any rain outside, Ichigo would think of you immediately. And, when I see him sad, I would feels ad too, and when I looked at the rain, I would think of a certain somebody…"**_

_Words were stuck in her mouth, unable to come out as Rukia began sobbing and crying uncontrollably, remembering the memories they had shared between her and Kaien-dono. The sad and happy times, the emotional and comforting times… Those times were gone… Forever and ever… Just that it had gone away from Ichigo when his Mom left him. Because she knew the pain he felt, she felt extremely sad. Just then, someone's hands were on her shoulders. Alarmed, Rukia looked up to see somebody she didn't expect to see at all. _

"_**Kurosaki-san…"**_

**______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________**

Ichigo clenched his fists harder.

"**What reason would the noble Kuchiki Byakuya have? To even go to the extent of not saving his sister??" **

"**Pride."**

"**Pride? Let me guess, the pride of Kuchiki clan or the pride of Soul Society???"**

"**The pride of herself, the pride of Kuchiki Rukia."**

"**Pride of… Rukia?"**

At this moment, Ukitake chose to step in.

"**If you had helped Kuchiki at that particular fight, no doubt you would have saved her. But, what would become of her pride?"**

"**Her… Pride?"**

Ukitake immediately felt a sense of déjà-vu crawling towards him. He remembered clearly him saying the same sentence to a certain member in his squad while a certain incident was happening.

"**Her pride would had been shattered, her resolve would had been broken."**

"**Compared to life, pride is nothing!!!" **

"**That's why, Ichigo-kun, we must always remember, there are two types of fights. One type of fight is to fight for our life while the other type of fight is to fight for our pride." **

"**Pride?"**

"**Indeed, they would mean nothing to you at that point of time, but, I believed it meant a lot to Kuchiki at that time."**

Ichigo wasn't sure what Ukitake meant and his gaze was still fixed on Rukia. Ukitake, knowing too well Ichigo didn't understand a single word he had said, decided to state an example.

"**Ichigo-kun, I'm sure you still remembered the fight you had with that particular Hollow who killed your Mom, right?"**

Ichigo looked down and clenches his fists much harder than before. How could he forget the Hollow who killed his Mom and yet was not killed by him?

"**In fact, we were watching you during the whole fight and I, personally, was glad that Kuchiki didn't not interfere in this fight. Because, she knew, you were fighting for your pride. The pride of your Mom."**

Ichigo closed his eyes and remembered clearly how he didn't want Rukia to interfere with that fight back then.

"_**Rukia!!! This is MY fight!!!"**_

Opening his eyes, Ichigo asked Ukitake.

"**Whose pride was she fighting for?"**

Ukitake hesitated to answer.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"_**Masaki will be very proud of you, Rukia-chan."**_

"_**Kurosaki-san, why are you here?"**_

"_**I sensed somebody's reiatsu right here so I just popped in**__."_

_Silence ensued for a few seconds._

"_**So, why don't you tell that idiot son of mine?"**_

"_**Tell him what, Kurosaki-san?"**_

"_**I overheard the conversation between**__**you and Masaki."**_

_Rukia couldn't help but blush a little at Isshin's statement._

"_**Why haven't you told him?"**_

_Rukia looked away from Isshin and looked back at Masaki's grave once more._

"_**So, why haven't you told him?"**_

_Rukia wanted to say "Because Shinigamis and humans aren't meant to be" but dismissed her thought and instead, settled with a simpler answer._

"_**Because we are from two different worlds, Kurosaki-san."**_

"_**Rukia, are you telling me that because both of you are from different worlds, you can't be together?"**_

"_**Yes, Kurosaki-san."**_

_Isshin looked at Rukia and smiled a little, remembering the same exact words that Masaki had said to him. He walked over to Rukia and put a hand on her shoulders._

"_**Someone said to me those exact words, exactly what you had said to me, and I told her: I promise, we will work this out together."**_

"_**Was she Masaki?" **_

"_**Yes. Rukia, tell me honestly, do you have faith in Ichigo to work out together, hand in hand, to solve this problem?"**_

_Rukia smiled. She may have arguments over Ichigo for the silliest thing, but, there's one matter where she will certainly know of and Ichigo can't fight with her with this. She looked up at Isshin and answered with eyes of determination. _

"_**Yes, Kurosaki-san. I have the faith in him."**_

"_**May I ask why?"**_

"_**Because Ichigo fights for the impossible."**_

_Isshin smiled. These two children really loved each other, didn't they? _

"_**Let's go back now, shall we? It's getting quite late now and I bet Ichigo must be worried sick for you."**_

_Rukia smiled and got up and started to walk back when Isshin said. _

"_**And, if Ichigo were to be the one standing here today, I bet he would be saying the same exact words I said to Masaki years ago."**_

_Rukia looked at Isshin confusedly._

"_**Because he loves you too."**_

_True enough, Rukia didn't know where this path will lead her to eventually. But, hearing these 5 words coming from his father's mouth was more than enough. When she turned to walk back with his father back to the house, Rukia's beeper suddenly ranged, signaling that there was a Hollow nearby. Isshin glanced at the direction of Rukia's beeper and turned back, pretending not to notice the beeper was ringing at all. _

"_**Ah, Kurosaki-san, I have something to attend to. Can you go back without me?"**_

_Isshin only nodded his head. He knew that the Hollow that Rukia was approaching isn't an easy-level Hollow, but, he also knew that Rukia would fight this particular Hollow alone, at least, for her pride and… Shiba Kaien's pride. When Rukia was about to run off, Isshin grabbed Rukia's hand. Rukia looked at Isshin confusedly while Isshin spoke in a low and serious tone. _

"_**Remember, the dead aren't the only ones who are lonely. The people who are living get lonely too. So, no matter what you do, remember all your friends, remember Inoue, Chad, Ishida, Yuzu, Karin and me. Most importantly, remember… Ichigo."**_

_**_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________**_

End of chapter and one-shot!!! So, tell me. Good? Bad? Overall fine? I'm dying to know!!!! *Pouts*

**Rukia: Oh my gosh!!!! That was great!!!! _*Tears come out of Rukia's eyes* _**

**_*I glance at ichigo and shrugs*_**

**Ichigo: Don't worry, she's acting again. **

**Rukia: STRAWBERRY HEAD!!!!!!!!! I WASN'T ACTING!!!!!!!!! **

**Ichigo: Whatever. Hey, didn't you say you wanna go to that Chappy store? **

**Rukia: OH HELL YEAH!!!!!!!! LET'S GO, ICHI!!!!!!!!**

**Ichigo: DON'T CALL ME ICHI, MIDGET!!!!!!!!!!!**

_***Blinks at them and shrugs***_ Epic random and thank god they are gone**. _*Sighs*_**

All right, click the review button below!!!! :)

Signing off

LuvRukia :) Ja ne!


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